Method of impregnating wooden structural members



July 16, 1940. A. B. Ecm-:RT

METHOD 0F IMPREGNATING WOODEN STRUCTURAL MEMBERS Filed Aug. 4, 1959 ATT NEY Patented July 16, 1940 l UNITED STATES METHOD* OF IMPREGNTING WOODEN STRUCTURAL MEMBERS Alton B. Eckert, Mount Vernon, N. Y. Application August 4, 1939, serial No. 288,898

3 Claims.

My invention relates to a method and means for impregnating wooden structural members, such, for example, as are used in the foundation and/ or superstructure of frame and other buildings and for other purposes, with a protective insecticide, to check or prevent damage by termites, toredoes and the like.

Present-day practice in treating the foundationl timbers of frame and other buildings, is to socket the timbers, throughout their length, at

spaced intervals and usually across the grain,

by horizontal, vertical or inclined borings, depending upon the location and position of the timbers, and force a liquid Ainsecticide into the sockets under sufficient pressure to drive it into the body of the wood through the grain 'channels thereof.

This treatment is expensive and requires skilled labor and special apparatus for handling the insecticide, which has to be renewed every two or three years to maintain the barrier it provides against termite attack.

The purpose of the present invention is to sim.- plify the above described method and reduce the cost involved in its practice, by dispensing with the use of special apparatus and skilled labor, so as to enable a householder or an unskilled workman to accomplish the same result, aided only by a few commonly employed tools that are ordinarily available.

A clearer understanding of the invention will `be had from the detail description that follows, in which reference will be made to the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. l is a sectional View of a portion of the foundation and superstructure of an ordinary frame'building, showing the manner of impregnating the timbers thereof with an insecticide, in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a view looking from the left at Fig, 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of one form of an insecticide cartridge or container, used in the practice of the invention.

Fig. 4 illustrates a modication, in which a single closure serves for both the inserted cartridge or container and the socket in the timber, and

Figs. 5 and 6 show further modifications of the timber socket closure. In Fig. 5, the outer end of the container is suitably shaped to serve as the closure for the open end of the socket and in Fig. 6, the inner end of the closure is shaped to vbreak open the container and free the liquid insecticide, as the closure is pressed or driven into the open end of the socket.

In the drawing, l indicates a concrete, brick or stone footing of a building foundation, 2 the usual frame superstructure thereon, consisting of sills 3, floor joist 4, ooring 4a, etc.

In impregnating the timbers of such a structure by my improved method, the preliminary formation of sockets in thetimbers, indicated at 5, 5,l etc., is followed, as in the old method, above referred to, and such borings may extend either in horizontal or vertical planes or be inclined upwardly or downwardly. As will appear later on, these borings'may be located at any point or points accessible to the hand of a workman, where lack of room would make the use of the commonly employed pressure apparatus im.- possible.

To conveniently enter` the insecticide in the borings, whetherthey are disposed vertically or horizontally or inclined, containers 6 for the same are used, of dimensions slightly less than the sockets, for ready insertion therein.

The containers are preferably made of a material sufficiently porous to permit fairly rapid escape of the liquid insecticide therefrom or which will disintegrate, under the action of the liquid. A comparatively light -tube 1, made of coarse paper or wood pulp, closed at one end 8 and provided at the other with a removable paper cap 9, asin Fig. 3, or` other form of closure, serves effectively, is inexpensive and disintegrates in a short time, freeing the contained insecticide for entry into the wood through the grain channels thereof.

Penetration into the body of the beam or other member is rapid, as is indicated by the early appearance of the insecticide on the exterior surface thereof and as the sockets are usually spaced a few inches apart throughout the length of the timber, a complete lethal barrier is formed against the entry of the termites into the body of the wood.

The use ofia cartridge form of insecticide container, for insertion by hand intof the timber sockets, enables timber sections to be reached and treated that are ordinarily inaccessible for the use of pressure apparatus, owing to the lack of space to accommodate it, as above `pointed out.

While preference is indicated above for a tubular paper cartridge` or container, I do not wish to be understood las intending to limit myself to either that form' or the material, as both may be varied as desired, it being essential only to provide temporary carriers for the insecticide cide therefrom and is readily removable and replaceable for the insertion ofr a new container Whenever further treatment of the wooden struc ture is required.

Instead of using separate closures for the carr tridges or containers and the sockets, in which they are placed, as shown in Figs. l and 2, a

single closure, in the form of a tapered cork or plug Il, may be employed for both, as in Fig. 4, r the container enlarged at the end l2, as in Fig. 5, to t tightly and close the socket.

In some instances it is desirable yto break the container and free the insecticide on closing the outer end of the timber socket, so that penetration into the body of the wood may be eiected inthe shortest possible time. This is readily accom-y plished by providingr the closure for the socket witha terminal puncturing point I3, and/or cuttingl blades I4, that will engage and open up the container as the closure is forced in the socket.

Whenever theimpregnation treatment is to be repeated, the remains ci the old containers must be removed from the sockets to provide clearance for the insertion of new insecticide cartridges therein and this may be readily accomplished by the use kof an ordinary brace and bit, which will gather the fragments in the spiral channel of the bit, enabling the operator to remove them by withdrawing rthe bit from the socket.

VVhileany well known liquid insecticide may be used in filling the containers, the charge may be in the form of a powder, if preferred, to which sucient liquid is added, before the container is closed, to dissolve it.

As the many important advantages of the invention will be apparent from the foregoing, it will not be necessary to further describe the same.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. The method of impregnating wooden structural members of buildings with a protective liquid insecticide, which consists in forming a plurality of suitably spaced sockets in the struc tural members, entering the liquid insecticide in the sockets in lledk containers from which the liquid provides its own escape by disintegrating the containers, and applying a closure to the open ends of the sockets. f l

2. The method of impregnating wooden structural members of a building with la protective liquid insecticide, which consists in forming cross-grainsockets throughout the length of the structural members, inserting in the sockets containers lled with the liquid insecticide and made of material sufficiently porous to permit the gradual escape of the liquid therefrom and applying a leak-proof closure to the open end of the sockets.

3. In the method of impregnating wooden structural members,v as defined in claim l, the

added step of breaking open the containersas each socket is closed to hasten impregnation of the structure.

' f AL'I'ON B. ECKER'I. 

